Cutie Q
Cutie Q (キューティーQ, Kyūtī Kyū) is a paddle/Breakout video game released in November 1979 by Namco. It is the third and final installment of the ''Gee Bee'' series and, again, was designed by Toru Iwatani, who would later create ''Pac-Man'' and ''Pole Position''. The name was taken from the song "Susie Q". It was included in the Japanese version of Namco Museum Volume 2 (instead of Super Pac-Man from the U.S. version), and the Namco Museum Remix compilation in 2007 for the Wii. A Rainbow Block from the game was a level design in ''Quester''. Gameplay The player uses the rotary knob to move the set of paddles across the screen. Pressing the button will serve the ball. There is no goal to the game: it is one single level, and never ends. The ball will go in a random direction, so the player cannot guide the ball. The game features a set of blocks on the left and right side of the screen (they are officialy called "Rainbow Blocks"), and will award the player 10 points each. When all of the Rainbow Blocks on a specific side have been cleared, a small yellow "Walkman" will appear, and will be knocked out if the ball hits it. The Rainbow Blocks will be replaced, but with an extra colored row, and removing the bottom row (it will continue until it reaches the magenta color). The blocks will only be replaced if the ball hits the bottom paddle. The middle chute features a creature known as Minimon. Every time the ball hits the bottom paddle, a new Minimon appears. Up to four can appear at a time, and when the bottom paddle collides with the ball at that point, the Minimon will reset to one. The player will receive the number of points displayed above it. A spinner appears in the center of the playfield. Hitting it will award the player 10 points. Unlike Bomb Bee and Gee Bee, the spinners will NOT increase the score to 100. The chutes on the left and right side of the screen contain the Extra Targets. Every time the ball lights one up, a letter spelling the word "EXTRA" will light up on one tof the sides. The chutes also feature "Side Traps", which will catch the ball and award bonus points each time the ball bounces. The chute will then open up to let out the ball. It is also noted that the Extra Targets will switch to another letter when the ball hits the bottom paddle. The middle of the playfield has "rollovers", which at default, will be blue sad faces. When the ball hits it, it will turn into a cyan happy face, but if the ball hits it while it is cyan, it will revert. The rollovers will double the score multiplier if all of the rollovers are lit up, and will change green to indicate. The rollovers will revert to blue when the ball is out of play. The bottom of the playfield has Drainage Chutes, blocked by a green "Safety Barrier". If the word EXTRA is spelled with the Extra Targets, an arrow will point in that direction. Hitting the Safety Barrier at this point will award an extra ball. Ports and re-releases Cutie Q was unofficially ported to the Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore 64. The VIC-20 version looks almost exactly like Cutie Q (even containing the Minimon chute), while the Commodore 64 version is more in the style of Bomb Bee (the 64 versions contains Drop Targets and Pop Bumpers). It was officialy ported to the Japanese version of Namco Museum Volume 2 (in the North American version, Cutie Q was replaced by Super Pac-Man), and was released internationally in Namco Museum Remix for the Wii in 2007. It was included again in Namco Museum Megamix for the Wii in 2010. Category:Arcade games